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Friday, November 22, 2013

There is considerable and overwhelmingly convincing evidence for the efficacy of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD. Every new study increases the evidence for and, finally, seems to reduce the resistance to further research in human subjects.

MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD: Current Research with Veterans, Firefighters, and Police Officers - Michael Mithoefer, MD and Annie Mithoefer, BSNWe will present a brief description of the chronology and results of the first completed clinical trial of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), followed by the protocol design and preliminary results of our current ongoing study with military veterans, firefighters, and police officers suffering from chronic, treatment-resistant PTSD. The nature of the therapeutic process will be illustrated with clinical vignettes and quotes from study sessions.Michael Mithoefer, MD, is a psychiatrist who practices in Charleston, S.C., where he divides his time between clinical research and outpatient clinical practice specializing in treating posttraumatic stress disorder with an emphasis on experiential methods of psychotherapy. He is Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina and is a Grof-certified Holotropic Breathwork Facilitator, a Certified Internal Family Systems Therapist, and is trained in EMDR. He and his wife, Annie Mithoefer, completed a MAPS-sponsored Phase 2 clinical trial testing MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and are currently conducting a second trial with military veterans, firefighters, and police officers as well as trainings for therapists in other MAPS-sponsored studies. Dr. Mithoefer is medical monitor for MAPS-sponsored clinical trials in Europe, the Middle East, Canada, and the US. Before going into psychiatry in 1995, he practiced emergency medicine for ten years and is currently board certified in Psychiatry, Emergency Medicine, and Internal Medicine.Annie Mithoefer, BSN, is a psychiatric nurse, Grof-certified Holotropic Breathwork Practitioner, and is trained in Hakomi Therapy. She and her husband, Dr. Michael Mithoefer, divide their time between Clinical Research with MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and work with individual psychotherapy clients in their private practice. They are co-therapists for MAPS-sponsored clinical trials including a completed Phase 2 study of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD and an ongoing study with military veterans, firefighters, and police officers with PTSD unresponsive to previous treatment. They also conduct training programs for other MAPS-sponsored research teams.At Psychedelic Science 2013, over 100 of the world's leading researchers and more than 1,900 international attendees gathered to share recent findings on the benefits and risks of LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, ayahuasca, ibogaine, 2C-B, ketamine, DMT, marijuana, and more, over three days of conference presentations, and two days of pre- and post-conference workshops.